Joe Matoske ’10 Wins Emmys and Accepted Into ACE
Joe Matoske ’10 (cinema studies), as part of the Vice Investigates team, won the ACE Eddie Award for Best Edited Non-Scripted Series award for their work on “Amazon on Fire.” The 2020 Eddie Awards were presented on Jan. 17. Receiving one of these prestigious awards guarantees entrance into ACE.
Recently, the 72nd News and Documentary Emmy’s virtual ceremony, held this past September, honored HBO’s VICE News Tonight with four awards. Editor Matoske contributed to Best Story in a Newscast with his work on “Taken by Isis,” as well as Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a Newscast with his work on “Collapse of the Caliphate,” parts 1, 2 and 3.
Read a Q&A with Matoske below.
Other awards Matoske has received are the Emmy’s Outstanding Continuing Coverage of a News Story in a Newscast in 2017 and 2019, again while working on VICE News Tonight.
How does it feel to have your work acknowledged with the Emmy Awards and the recent Eddie Award?
It’s been a surprising honor, especially during these times of covid where we’ve been forced to reimagine how we do this kind of work and how we draw inspiration for it. I’m used to roaming the city while I work ideas out in my head, now I mostly annoy my cat; so it’s nice to feel like i’m still effectively connecting viewers with important stories.
How did you end up working for VICE Media? What is it like to work for a group that’s breaking new ground like that?
I’ve been at vice about 6 years now. I started as an Assistant Editor and just kept looking for opportunities to edit. It takes time, but eventually I met a few people who really advocated for me, and I owe a lot of my future opportunities to them. It’s been an incredibly positive part of the experience for sure.
How do you feel your experience at Purchase prepared you for your career?
Purchase often felt like a sandbox where creative failure was normalized. Maybe only I was normalizing my failures, but I think it’s helpful to take risks and never have them payoff. The less far along you are in your career, the quicker you bounce back. I also was really fortunate to be around so many other similar creative and interesting people that would give me feedback.
Is there one specific thing about your Purchase experience that had a particular impact/that you call on even now?
Loved PTV and PSGA. A lot of my love for making things happened outside of the classroom. It was meeting other people and messing around. Some of my favorite Purchase projects were making late night promos and bumpers for PTV.
Who was your favorite professor? Why?
I was fortunate to have Michelle Stewart as a professor. She really helped me retool how I watch and think about films, which has gone a long way to understanding characters in documentary.